e-Sword: What Bible Software Ought
To Be
This First Review
Originally Appeared in Christian Computing
Magazine in September
2006
The Update that Follows Appeared
in 2007
Written by: Dr. J. D. Watson,
Technical Editor
This month I’m again
interrupting our series on the Windows Registry (just
one more time) to address something of far greater
importance, and in light of last’s month’s column, this
one is timely. Our editor-in-chief Steve Hewitt chose to
give me the singular honor of reviewing a Bible program
called e-Sword (www.e-sword.net). I will,
therefore, make a desperate attempt to do it
justice.
e-Sword (eS)
is a totally free Bible search and study program that
author Rick Meyers has graciously given to the Church.
In case you’re thinking, “Oh, it’s free so it can’t be
very high quality,” I hope this article will dispel such
notions, because here is a “Class A” piece of software
(written in Visual Basic 6) that has been downloaded
upwards of 4,000,000 times (which demands over
five terabytes of bandwidth each
month!).
e-Sword
Features
Figure 1 should quickly
show you what eS is all about. Most of what you need is
right in front of you. In the upper left corner is the
“Scripture Lookup” box, in which you can type in the
reference you want, or you can navigate to it in the
“Bible Tree” below (a feature you can turn off if you
prefer, which I do; you can also change the entire
layout of the main screen if you want). The Bible window
displays a tab for each translation you have installed.
The same is true for the “Dictionary” view at the bottom
of the screen and the “Commentary” view to the right.
This design nicely facilitates synchronization, so that
when you click on a verse in the Bible view, all the
commentaries and dictionaries
follow.
You’ll also see two arrow
buttons right beside the “Lookup Scripture” box that
enable you to go back to previous reference and forward
to the next reference. Clicking on the list arrow beside
those arrows also displays a neat little “Verse Trail”
window.
Figure 1 also
demonstrates just how many high quality (and absolutely
free) resources you have been given. Dictionaries
include: Easton, Fausset, the invaluable International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,
Nave’s, Strong’s, Thayer’s, and even Webster’s 1828
dictionary. Even more of a blessing are the
commentaries: Barnes, Clark, Darby, Geneva, Gill, Henry,
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Keil and Delitzsch,
People’s, Treasury of David, and Treasury of Scripture
Knowledge, as well as Robertson’s and Vincent’s word
studies. More are also available.
Fig.
1 – e-Sword’s main screen,
showing a looked up verse (Eph. 1:6), the
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia entry
for “grace,” a ToolTip for Strong’s G5485
(charis), and John Gill’s
commentary.
But even that’s not all.
Under “Topic Notes” you will also find more resources,
including: 2000+ Bible Illustrations, Anti-Nicene
Fathers (9 volumes), Schaff’s Church History, Calvin’s
Institutes (Beveridge translation, of course), and many
others. There are also four daily devotionals available:
Day By Day Grace (Hoekstra), Our
Daily Walk (Meyer), Devotional Sermons
(Morrison), and, of course, Spurgeon’s classic,
Morning and
Evening.
On top of all that,
there’s also a “STEP Reader” that includes several free
full libraries of selected authors, including the works
of Bunyan, Meyer, Newton, Pink, Ryle, and a Wesleyan
collection. This tool also enables you to read any other
STEP titles you might already own. What a wonderfully
handy tool!
Moving to Figure 2, the
“Parallel” translation feature is really cool. Four
separate columns enable you to see a parallel comparison
of the current chapter in four translations. In
contrast, the “Compare” tab displays the current verse
in all the translations you have installed, which
reminded me of the same feature in BibleWorks.
Fig. 2 – e-Sword’s parallel Bible translation
feature and “Study Notes” word
processor.
Figure 2 also displays
the “Study Notes” feature, which is a nice .RTF word
processor that acts very much like MS-Word. For illustration, I put in a tiny
snippet from my own exposition of Ephesians 1:5-6.
Notice the name of the file at the bottom (“Ephesians
Sermons.not”). The list arrow to the right lists all
your stored .not files. This is actually a very good
little word processor, complete with formatting,
numbering, bullets, text alignment, and indenting
buttons, find and replace, a spell checker, and print
preview. A really clever feature is the “Format
Scripture ToolTip” button (or Ctrl+J), which as Figure 2
illustrates enables you to highlight a Scripture
reference and turn it into a popup displaying the
verse’s text in your preferred translation. You can also
import and export your note
files.
As an alternative to this
feature, if you prefer using Word,
Rick has also written four macros and a Toolbar (Fig. 3)
for it. In order from left to right, the buttons “search
e-Sword,” “paste verses” from it, “select Bible
translation,” and “convert Scripture reference,” which
automatically inserts the verse text after you type just
the reference and highlight it (very
nice!).
Fig. 3 – Microsoft Word
toolbar macros for e-Sword.
Figure 4 illustrates two
approaches to searching in eS. One, of course, is by
just displaying the “Search” dialog box and entering
search criteria. This includes not only the options
displayed, but wildcard searches are also supported,
which greatly expand searching power. The other approach
to searching is by highlighting a word, right-clicking on it, and then selecting
the “Quick Search” option to locate occurrences of that
word elsewhere in Scripture. I must interject here that
I was extremely impressed that this “Quick Search
“also works on Strong’s numbers, enabling you to find
the frequency of any Greek or Hebrew word. Additionally,
the “Extended Verse Search” feature enables you to
search multiple translations simultaneously.
Fig. 4 – e-Sword’s search
features.
The “Tools” menu lists
several rich additions to eS. Besides the “Daily
Devotions” mentioned earlier, “Bible Reading” is a small
applet that includes a wizard that enables you to
generate your own Bible reading plan. Similar applets
are “Prayer Requests,” which tracks prayer requests, and
“Scripture Memory,” which aids you in creating your own
system for this important part of Christian living. All
four of these tools also have an option to display them
at startup. What struck me most about these additions is
that only a spiritually minded person would think of
them. This helps underscore the motive behind this whole
project.
Finally, among several
other features that space doesn’t permit me to detail
(highlighting, bookmarks, verse list, font control,
background texture, and more), eS also includes a
“Graphics Viewer,” complete with maps courtesy of the
American Bible Society (16), NASA satellite images of
the Holy Land area (18), Clarence Larkin’s classic
charts (58), Doré New Testament woodcuts (45), classic
Bible maps (4), ancient Mediterranean maps (9), and the
Son Light Bible Atlas (14). Once again, this is
first-rate stuff in Bible
software.
Fig. 5 -
e-Sword’s Graphics Viewer displaying one of the
sixteen maps from the American Bible
Society.
Oh, and BTW, I do want to
mention that eS and many of its add-ons are also
available for your Pocket-PC.
Improvements?
I hesitate mentioning
weaknesses because I feel like I’m looking a gift-horse
in the mouth, so I do so with all due respect.
Improvement could be made
in the Help. It’s currently a bit rudimentary and needs
a little more detail on how to do certain things. While
this is a pet peeve of mine, as I used to write
documentation professionally, I think it’s a fair
observation. There’s not a single word, for example,
about importing and exporting files, the Word macros, and several other features.
While most features are not hard to figure out, better
documentation would speed the process all the more. I
should note that Rick does provide a “Training” web
page with several demos and a 105-page tutorial
manual (written by a third party in PDF format) that
demonstrates almost every feature. Sorry, but I still
prefer immediate access through the Help
system.]
Like many products today,
eS is a bit slow in loading and sometimes in searching.
Additionally, it’s just a bit bothersome that layout
changes (such as not displaying the “Bible Tree”) do not
take affect until you restart the program. It would also
be nice if a “Save Desktop” feature could be added,
enabling you to save various desktop
setups.
In the same vane as
wildcard searches, I need to make a special note on
Boolean logic. Rick has successfully simplified this for
the non-techie using “All words” as an implicit AND
statement and “Any words” as an implicit OR statement.
For example, I got exactly the same result with “grace
truth” using “All words” as I got using “grace AND
truth” in QuickVerse 4 (Jn. 1:14, 17; Col. 1:6; 2 Jn.
1:3). I also got virtually the same result using “grace
truth” with “Any words” as I did “grace OR truth” in
QV4. That, however, is as deep as the Boolean logic
goes. Rick felt that since his target audience is often
the less savvy user, less would be more. I, however,
would prefer the “other” more—full Boolean logic. To be
fair, of course, many products today don’t have this
capability at all, thereby weakening their search
capability.
Finally, it would also be
nice if the graphics files in the viewer were not
proprietary, or if the viewer would at least enable you
to view and/or import other standard graphic formats
(i.e., .jpg, .tif., .bmp, etc.).
These observations,
however, in no way detract from the overall quality and
functionality of this superb program. Believe me, I can
much more severely pick apart several other
products.
Support for the
Project
I am compelled to say
here that I was shocked (and just a tad appalled) when I
read these words on the donation page: “If this ministry
blesses you, are your willing to join me in it? Less
than 1% of the people who download e-Sword return to say
‘thanks’ and donate.” Come on now, Christian Brothers
and Sisters, as our Lord Himself declared, “Freely ye
have received, freely give” (Matt. 10:8; cf. Acts 3:6;
20:33-35). Here is brother who demands nothing for the ministry
God has laid on his heart (and that is, indeed, what
ministry [diakonia] is all about). Should
we not, therefore, encourage and support him? I
strongly urge you to help this ministry by giving
what you can. If you still need incentive, a donation of
$15 or more gets you a CD with most of the available
resources on
it.
Summary
In short, e-Sword is first-rate Bible software that
is on the same level as commercial products, some of
which cost hundreds of dollars. Its free price tag is
truly what Bible software ought to be and challenges all
other products to reexamine their own
approach.
While I am more than
aware that publishing costs money and that books
have authors who deserve a royalty for their work, e-Sword throws down the gauntlet. I’ll
probably ruffle a few feathers with my next statement,
but I would challenge all Bible software companies to
offer the program itself free and only charge for the
resources that demand it. I’ve seen companies, for
example, that charge high prices even for public domain
titles (e.g., $40 for Hodge’s Systematic
Theology). We should all find that troubling to say
the least. What is our true motive in all this,
ministry or money (read an article
titled "Ministry or
Money"). Will not God bless a giving
spirit (Rom. 12:13; 2 Cor. 9:7; Eph. 4:28)?
e-Sword
Update
Back in the September
2006 issue, I reviewed the wonderful free Bible software
program e-Sword
(www.e-sword.net), written and given to
the church by Rick Meyers. I’d like to invest my space
this month in updating you on this
product.
The latest version of eS
is 7.8.5. (BTW, the 6,000,000th
download of eS occurred in July!). This version has a
new “Gospel Harmony” feature (“Bible >
Gospel Harmony”), which is actually a
reproduction of A.T. Robertson’s classic, A Harmony
of the Gospels (Fig. 1).
Fig.
1 - e-Sword’s new “Gospel
Harmony” feature (A. T. Robertson’s A Harmony of the
Gospels).
Also new in this latest
version is the addition of several more Bible book
abbreviations that the program recognizes, such as:
Mt, Lk, Php, Jas, etc. There is also
additional support for Japanese and Vietnamese
modules.
The best news is that
there are several new add-ons. Free stuff includes an
update of Keil & Delitzsch
Commentary on the OT, the Hebrew New
Testament (translated by Franz Delitzsch), the ESV
translation, the Textus Receptus, Byzantine, and
Westcott-Hort Greek New Testaments (all with
Strong’s numbers), William R. Shepherd’s Historical
Atlas (graphics), the CIA World
Factbook (graphics), and a few
others.
Of special note, however,
are the many low cost contemporary titles that are now
available for eS. This is one big reason why eS is such
a wonderful value. You pay nothing for the program and
even the add-ons that do cost
something are still inexpensive. New from AMG
Publishers, for example, is A Word for the Day: Key
Words from the New Testament
(www.e-sword.net/word4day.html), a daily devotional
based on Greek word studies made practical for Christian
living ($10.00).
And then there is eStudySource, who has jumped on the eS
bandwagon with both feet! Check them out at
www.eStudySource.com. While they have been
offering the NKJV, NLT, and the Complete
Jewish Bible ($14.99 each), as well as the
Message and the HCSB ($9.99 each) for a while,
the BIG news (and you read it here first!) the
NIV is coming very
soon.
Also brand new at eStudySource is the very popular Life
Application Study Bible Notes ($14.99), which is
nice because you don’t have to buy another Bible. An
absolutely must-have title (IMHO) is William MacDonald’s
Believer’s Bible Commentary, the best one-volume
commentary I have ever seen (and I’ve seen them
all)—and at $20.00, it’s way cheaper than hardcopy.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary OT and NT Set (the
classics from the dudes at Dallas) is also a great value
($34.99). And you just can’t get the beloved J. Vernon
McGee’s five-volume Thru the Bible anywhere as
cheap as here ($39.99). The same is true of Lloyd J.
Ogilvie’s (ed.) massive The Preacher’s
Commentary, which at $79.99 is cheaper than any
other software platform (and in hardcopy, forget about
it!). Other great values are Jon Courson’s
Application Commentary (NT; $19.99), Larry Richard’s
The Bible Teacher's Commentary ($19.99), the old
standby Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old
and New Testament Words ($14.99), and Nelson’s
New Bible Manners & Customs (only $9.99,
although it does not contain all the illustrations of
the print version).
I would dare humbly add a
word or two about eS’s documentation. As mentioned in my
original review, while the On-line Help is rudimentary,
there is 105-page tutorial manual (in .PDF), written by
Barrie Gordon and Johan Struwig of South Africa. As a
former documentation specialist, I am impressed with
this manual. It’s simply written, well organized, and
very graphic. Its last update, however, was 6-27-03, so
if these dear Christian brothers would have time, a
revision is in order. It would also be nice if this
manual were accessible from the eS “Help” menu, which
could also serve as an alternative to more robust Online
Help.
Finally, if I may be so
bold, I would again strongly urge
you to support the eS project. As I originally
mentioned, and it is still true, less than one percent
of the people who download eS return to say thanks and
contribute financially. That continues to burden me
deeply. PLEASE go to the support page,
http://www.e-sword.net/support.html, and encourage a
selfless Christian brother. I said it once, and I say it
again, e-Sword is what Bible
software ought to be, so let us support this effort for
God’s
glory.
